After falling in love with the high desert landscapes of Bolivia while in the Peace Corps, Traci returned to the states and made New Mexico her home. Exploring the woods and fields of Michigan when growing up on a small horse and cattle ranch formed her early love of land. Later she worked for national parks in the Great Lakes area and volunteered in Montana as an environmental educator. This set her on a path towards the field of conservation. She has worked at White Sands National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns, and the Apache National Forest as a fire lookout.
Traci has been employed at the Grant County Assessor’s office and the City of Las Cruces Planning Department, specializing in land records management and GIS parcels mapping. She holds a B.A. in Advertising from Michigan State University, and an M.S. in Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration from Western Illinois University. She also has certifications in GIS and Geospatial Technology. Traci lives in Las Cruces, where her home office window looks out on a beautiful garden, she loves to work in.